Access Denied: Making the MTA Subway System Accessible to All New Yorkers

Thousands of New Yorkers require elevators to access the subway every day: people with disabilities, parents pushing strollers, travelers carrying luggage, and residents suffering from an injury. However, only 23% of the city’s subway stations have elevators. These elevators break down often, rendering even fewer stations accessible to those with mobility impairments. This report outlines recommendations the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and New York City Transit (NYCT) can take to make the subway system accessible to all New Yorkers. Recommendations include creating a permanent office dedicated to accessibility oversight and accountability, adding ramps at short staircases to stations that already have elevators, introducing a faster pace of new elevator construction, and more.